The present invention generally relates to an option card for expanding the versatility of a computer and, in particular, relates to such a card that provides multiple options and is implemented on a single printed circuit board.
With the expansion of the use of computers for a multitude of diverse tasks, many specific definable capabilities are being defined and demanded by computer users oriented towards specific goals. For instance, with the present and anticipated continued advancement in both the telecommunication and speed processing fields, a clear demand is emerging for various computer options integrating these fields. Such options include telephone management, voice controlled computer command, speech processing and many others.
Presently, a number of such options are available individually. Generally, however, the voice/telecommunciation options require two or more printed circuit boards or, if implemented on a single board, have rather limited versatility the usefulness. Consequently, in order to serve the increasing demands for a plurality of options, suppliers must either expand the ability of the computers to accept a larger number of such boards or to provide multiple options on a single board. Clearly, the first alternative is quite expensive and complex, particularly when multiple options are to be provided for relatively physically small personal computers.